Team TARDIS vs the Agency
by BadWolfGirl01
Summary: Written for timepetalsprompts weekly ficlet prompt, a multi-chap NineRose plot bunny fic. "Jack asks to visit home; he and Rose get separated from Nine and trouble ensues. Jealous Nine." This'll be more angry!Nine but there'll be a bit of jealousy too. 4 or 5 chapters planned. Basically, the Time Agency finds out Jack's home. Will be explained in the storyline. Please review!
1. Chapter 1: Boeshane Peninsula

Chapter One: Boeshane Peninsula

Rose entered the console room, a mug of tea cradled in her hands, to see two pairs of legs sticking out from underneath the console. There was a spark, then a grunt and a muffled curse with a vague American accent made its way to Rose's ears. She snorted. "Way to go, Old Girl," she said with a tongue-touched grin aimed at the Time Rotor. The TARDIS's hum was tinged with amusement and the rotor bobbed up and down once.

"So, Rose Tyler," a northern voice said from behind her—when had the Doctor came out from underneath the console? "backwards or forwards?"

Rose chewed on her bottom lip for a second, thinking. It hit her that she'd chosen the last few trips. "'S not my turn t' choose," Rose decided, glancing meaningfully at Jack. The ex-conman's face brightened.

"I wouldn't mind a visit home," Jack said slowly. "It's been a long time since I saw my mother. Not to mention I've got something I know you would enjoy, Rosie."

"Show off," the Doctor grumbled. "It better not be the inside of your bedroom."

"Nah," Jack said easily. "I'd be inviting you along too if that were it."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and started entering coordinates. "Boeshane Peninsula, fifty-first century it is, then."

Rose settled herself on the jump seat as Jack helped the Doctor pilot the TARDIS. She managed to stay on her perch through the tumultuous landing, a small feat. With a wheezing groan, the TARDIS shuddered and ground to a halt.

Rose was out the doors before the two men had moved from their positions at the console. She looked around eagerly at the small city. There was a vibrant, bustling market in the center, and it was towards this market that the Doctor started off.

"Might as well look for some parts for the TARDIS while we're here," the Time Lord said. Rose and Jack followed behind him, and at first they stayed together. However, Rose was captivated by the market and as it didn't look like the Doctor was going to be keen on exploring for a while, she nudged Jack.

"Can we go look around? 'M just dying to see what some of these vendors are selling," Rose said, giving Jack a tongue-touched grin. Jack glanced over at the Doctor, but he was busy haggling over some part and wasn't paying his companions any attention.

"Come on," Jack said. "Maybe he'll start paying more attention to us if we just disappear; he might think I've gotten you into my bedroom at last," the Captain finished with a saucy grin and a wink.

"Wouldn't you just love it if you had?" Rose asked teasingly. She took his hand and followed him through the small crowd, away from the Doctor.

OoOoO

"Target acquired. He's left the Time Lord and is now looking at stalls. Complications: he has a blonde woman with him. She doesn't look like much, probably his recent conquest. I believe we can take them both down," a woman said into a vortex manipulator strapped about her left wrist. She was half-hidden in the shadows of a building. The woman adjusted the gun hanging from her waist and shifted.

"Roger. Wait for targets to move to a secluded place before you approach them. Remember, guns are set to stun, not to kill. We need to know what Harkness remembers." The woman pressed her lips together in a thin line.

"What about Blondie?"

"Traditional method for her. Don't waste the charge on the gun."

"Why keep her alive?"

"Because Harkness will be more willing to talk if we show her unharmed. You have your orders, Agent."

"Sir," the woman acknowledged. She turned and made her way to where ten men dressed in black fatigues stood. "Here's the plan…"

OoOoO

"Oh my God, Jack, what is this?" Rose asked, her eyes half-closed in pleasure. She took another large bit of the crispy, cream-filled mystery food, which Jack had assured her she would enjoy. He was right. Rose was more than glad that she'd filched one of the unlimited credit sticks from the Doctor's jacket pockets the other day, as it meant she could try her fill of fifty-first century foods.

Jack grinned at the look on the blonde's face. "It's called an Oitos," he told her. "Only found at this very stall in this market, anywhere in Time and space."

Rose laughed and finished the Oitos. "So what was it that you wanted to show me?" she asked. Jack grinned brightly.

"Follow me."

OoOoO

"Alert: targets are moving out of the bazaar. Be prepared to engage. Stun Harkness, take Blondie down, and bring 'em in. Let's move!"

OoOoO

Rose followed Jack out of the market and through a narrow, winding street. The road opened out into an open area carpeted in thick grass, which ran all the way to the edge of a small bluff overlooking the sea.

"'S beautiful," Rose breathed as she looked at the view. She turned to bestow a tongue-touched grin on Jack, only to see him fall to the ground, unconscious. Ten men wearing black uniforms came at her. Rose reacted on instinct, fighting them with everything she had. Something hard and heavy crashed painfully into her side, and she screamed as pain roared through her.

"Get away from me!" Rose shouted, but it did no good. "Jack!" She wisely refrained from screaming for the Doctor, not wanting to alert her kidnappers to his presence. "Somebody help me!" Then a cold metal gun slammed into her face. She felt her nose crack and blood gushed over her lips. The gun hit her again and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2: Mayhem in the Marketplace

Chapter Two: Mayhem in the Marketplace

The Doctor pocketed the TARDIS part he had purchased and looked around for his companions. They were nowhere in sight. He sighed.

"What part of _don't wander off_ is so hard to understand?" the Time Lord muttered under his breath as he stalked through the crowd, looking for a flash of blonde hair, a trench coat, anything that would lead him to Rose and Jack. "Excuse me," he ground out to a vendor selling scarves, "have you seen a blonde woman? She would've been with a man in a trench coat, Jack Harkness."

The woman nodded. "She was here earlier, yes. She looked at this scarf," the woman indicated a TARDIS-blue scarf of thin, fluttery material, "but she did not buy it. She was very interested though. Perhaps you would like to purchase it for her?"

The Doctor frowned, about to decline, when a picture of the scarf about Rose's neck made its way into his mind. He sighed; she would look beautiful in it, no question… and he had no power to deny Rose Tyler anything she wanted. "How much?"

A moment later, the Doctor was walking away from the scarf vendor, a midnight-blue scarf in his pocket. He wandered around the bazaar for a while, but his mind wasn't on it. Instead, he found varying scenarios running through his mind. They had been gone for far too long… what if Captain Shag-everything-that-breathes had finally—he cut off that train of thought right there. He had made it perfectly clear to Jack that he didn't care whom he shagged, but for two rules: one, keep it off the TARDIS, and two, Rose was off limits.

He stopped at the Oitos vendor's stall. The elderly woman had some more interesting news for him. "Yes, I saw the couple you seek. They stopped here to purchase my food, then exited the marketplace." She looked around cautiously, then leaned closer to him. "They were followed."

The Doctor felt his hearts skip a beat. "Followed by who?" he growled, anger rising in him like a tidal wave.

"Agency men."

The Doctor didn't wait to hear anything else. He stormed through the bazaar, headed back to the TARDIS. This Agency, he guessed to be the Time Agency, had taken _his_ Rose, and they would pay. A shadowed form detached itself from the wall near him and followed behind him as he made his way through the horde of people. The Doctor paused as he noticed the man, then took off at a run, winding his way between stalls.

"Halt in the name of the Time Agency!" the man shouted, panic evident in his voice. The Doctor paid him no mind; at least until the first shot rang out. Someone screamed.

"Hey, that's my daughter you're shooting at! Watch where you're pointing that gun, boy!" someone yelled. Suddenly, the crowd began to hem the Agent in, shouting angrily. More shots rang out, and the people began to scatter in all directions, screaming. The Doctor watched as a young girl fell and was nearly trampled by her family, who left her behind without a thought. The Time Lord hurried to her, scooped her up, and began to run.

There was nowhere to run to, however. The seething mob of humans was hyped on fear and anger, and the Time Agent's wild firing didn't help. The Doctor swore in Gallifreyan and pushed through the riot until he had reached the fringe. On the outside, the yells were not so demanding, the fear not so palpable. He lowered the little girl in his arms to the ground and attempted to put a smile on his face.

"What's your name?" he asked, trying to sound gentle.

"Clara," the young brunette answered. "Clara Oswald, but I'm gonna be Clara Pink someday, b'cuz Danny's a Pink. Who're you?"

"Nice to meet you, Clara someday-Pink. I'm the Doctor. Can you find your way home from here?" The girl was really quite adorable; Rose would love her, the Doctor mused. The thought reminded him of what he had learned, and he was suddenly tense and ready to move on.

The little girl nodded. "I know how to stay out of the way," she said. "Stupid Time Agents do this all the time. Danny taught me about sneaking" she stretched out the vowels on the word, "and he says I do it real good. Danny knows everything," she proclaimed with a bright smile. "Bye-bye, The Doctor."

The Doctor frowned, but Clara was already running off, staying close to the surrounding buildings. He sighed, then turned and hurried to the TARDIS. The ship hummed nervously, and her fear only exacerbated his own. "Phone," he muttered, reaching for the 21st century phone Rose had insisted he purchase in case she got separated from the TARDIS. Her number was the only one in the contact list. He selected it and hit 'call'.

An unfamiliar male voice came over the line. "What the bloody hell is this thing?"

Another man answered him. "Got no idea, Jorn. Put it over there; ya can ask Blondie when she comes to."

The Doctor clenched his fists as a wave of fury roared over him. He felt the TARDIS trying to sooth him, and though he didn't want to, he grudgingly let her alleviate some of his anger. He focused completely on the words coming from the phone, looking away from the black device for just long enough to set the TARDIS tracking the signal.

"Oi, Kerry, she's wakin' up," the man called Jorn said.

"Great. Bet ya twenty quid she's Harkness's latest girl, eh?" Kerry answered.

"Yer on."

Someone, he had the terrible feeling it was Rose, groaned. "Wakey wakey, Blondie!" Jorn cried cheerfully.

"Where 'm I?" Rose said blearily. The Doctor felt relief race through him as he heard her voice. "M' head," the girl groaned.

"Yer in the headquarters of the Time Agency, Blondie. We're gonna ask ya some questions, and yer gonna answer 'em, nice and easy. Let's start with an easy one. What's yer name?"

"Rose…" she said slowly. "Where's Jack? You, you, I don't know, stunned him or something… augh!" A faint whimper bled through the phone connection.

"Ya don't get to ask the questions, Blondie, that's our job. Next question: why're ya here?" This time it was Kerry who spoke.

"Jack just wanted to visit home, that's all," Rose answered. "He's done nothin' wrong, and neither've I."

"Who is the Time Lord? The man ya were with. What does he call himself? Why was Harkness with 'im?"

Rose, surprisingly, laughed. "He didn't unlock Jack's memories, since that's what you're worried about." There was a moment of stunned silence. "I'm not stupid, ya know, just 'cause I'm blonde and a woman. The Time Lord I was with? That's the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, an' I'm his best friend. Ya know that little black thing you threw on the table? That's a communicator, and he's heard everything ya said. Doctor?"

The Doctor felt a grin stretch across his face. "Fantastic!" he exclaimed. "Rose!" he called through the phone.

"Yeah, Doctor?" she asked.

"I'm coming to get you." The Doctor threw a lever, and the TARDIS dematerialized, coordinates set for the room where _his_ Rose was being fantastic.


	3. Chapter 3: Taken

Chapter 3: Taken

When Rose regained consciousness, the first thing she became aware of was a splitting pain in her head. The second thing was a hushed voice. "…take Blondie to Interrogation Room One, before she wakes up, you bloody idiot."

"She's good an' out, Regina," a man whined.

Rose instinctively kept her eyes shut and her breathing deep and even. She wasn't exactly sure who had taken her and Jack, or why they wanted them, but she knew that alerting her captors to her awareness wouldn't be the smartest thing. After all, she'd been kidnapped before; the Doctor had always saved her in the past, and she had no doubt he would come for her this time as well.

"Regina, you gonna tell us grunts why we had to bring them two in, anyway? Harkness is as good as gone; he's never gonna join back. I kinda feel bad for Blondie here, we really didn't need to hit her that hard."

Yes, she remembered that. She'd been hit in the face with a gun, a couple times, she thought. That would explain the headache. And was that blood on her lips?

"Commander said that Harkness would be more willing to cooperate if we had Blondie; I was going to have her shot. Anyway, this is classified; I shouldn't be telling you this, but on your own head be it. We're worried about the Bad Wolf scenario. Harkness has been traveling with a Time Lord, a telepathic species; it is highly likely that the memory blocks have been removed. That's one reason."

"Been tracking his manipulator, eh Regina? So what's reason two?"

"Yes, I have, Kerry. Harkness's memories are a problem, yes… but the Agency's got bigger problems. Involving him, of course, indirectly."

"Well, go on, Regina. I'm curious."

"The words 'Bad Wolf' keep popping up, in every time, across the universe. It seems to originate from some point in the year 200,100, on a satellite owned by the Bad Wolf Corporation. Hell, we've even got a scenario named such, and for no bloody reason! It just is! And the only thing we know about this Bad Wolf is that it's involving Jack Harkness. The words have been graffitied on buildings in several locations he's been to recently; a Raxicoricofallapitorian by the name of Blon Fel-Fotch named a project 'Blaidd Dwrg'. That's Welsh for 'Bad Wolf'. So what the bloody hell is the Bad Wolf? And what's Harkness got to do with it?"

Rose felt her heart skip a beat, and a shiver ran down her spine. _Bad Wolf_. It was everywhere. It had been following her and the Doctor around since she had started traveling with him, but she hadn't really thought much of it.

"So I need you to find out from Blondie here, _as subtly as possible_ , why Harkness is with the Time Lord and if he's regained his memories. Take her away, and _don't tell the Commander I told you about Bad Wolf_."

"Ma'am."

OoOoO

Jack groaned. "Stun guns," he muttered thickly. It came out sounding more like, "Sthun gunth," but that was to be expected.

"Agent Harkness!" a far-too-cheery voice greeted him. He knew that voice. Had slept with the woman to whom that voice belonged a few times, too. She had been _excellent_ as a bedmate, but not so much as a mission partner.

"Regina," he mumbled. "The bloody hell you doing here?" Jack forced his eyes open and looked around. He was handcuffed to a wall in a room with no furniture other than a table pressed against a wall. "This is an interrogation room," he managed. Regina smiled coolly and stepped close to him.

"Agent Jack Harkness, I have some questions for you."

"You mean the Commander does. You going to steal my memories again? Turn me back into your dashing Captain?"

Regina ignored him. "What do you know of the Bad Wolf?"

OoOoO

It took all of the willpower Rose possessed not to scream in agony when the man dragged her across the ground. She hadn't realized she was that badly injured. _The Doctor will be furious_ , she thought to herself. _He's always going on about how jeopardy-friendly I am_. She took a deep breath, and forced her muscles to relax. She stayed relaxed and calm when the man roughly handcuffed her to the wall. Although her mind recoiled, she didn't flinch when she felt him run his hands up and down her body. Another man entered the room, and she could hear them talking.

"Regina's gone to Interrogation Room Two, that's where Harkness is." Rose filed away that bit of information for later, when the Doctor came.

"What do we know about Blondie?"

"Well, if we knew her name we'd be better off, but intel suggests that she was with Harkness in several of his adventures." This was a new voice, one that came from the door. "Get to work, boys, she's not going to be out much longer."

"Yes, ma'am," the two men coursed in unison.

OoOoO

"You've made enemies with a very dangerous man," Jack stated firmly.

"He may be a Time Lord, Harkness, but he's just one man. The Agency is huge," Regina replied patiently. Jack snorted.

"He's the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Prince of Darkness. Do you really want to find out how one man earned all those titles?"

Regina shifted nervously.

"It's too late, anyway," Jack said viciously, smirking when Regina paled. "You might've gotten away with taking just me. But you didn't just take me, did you?"

"We—we took the blonde, too. The Commander said to bring her in," Regina whispered.

"As I said. You might've gotten away with grabbing me, but you took the blonde, too. And there's where you made your big mistake. You kidnapped the Doctor's Rose. And now you're going to feel the fury of a Time Lord."

Jack's laughter followed the Time Agent out of the room and down the hallway. He continued to laugh long after Regina had gone.

Really, these fools had no idea what they were up against.

OoOoO

"Yes, ma'am," the two men said simultaneously.

At that moment, Rose's phone rang. There was only one person who would be calling her; Jackie didn't call, preferring to wait for Rose to call her—the Doctor had encouraged this, saying that traveling in the Time Vortex could be difficult and it would be easier for the TARDIS to send calls to the correct timeline if they were made from inside her—and Shareen, Keisha, and Rose's other friends thought she was traveling and didn't have cell service. If not for the fact that Jack was almost certainly in a similar situation to her, Rose knew it could've been him, but considering the circumstances, she knew it was the Doctor. _Don't start talking,_ she begged silently. _Don't let them know you're listening_.

"What the bloody hell is this thing?" One of the men said. It wasn't Kerry, the man who had brought her in here, but the other one, who had come in after she was tied up.

"Got no idea, Jorn. Put it over there; ya can ask Blondie when she comes to." Rose barely held in a snort. Despite her best efforts, her muscles tensed and her face twitched.

"Oi, Kerry, she's wakin' up," the man called Jorn said. _Bollocks_ , Rose thought. There went her charade. Although, she felt certain the Doctor was worried and he'd need to hear her voice. She sighed.

"Great. Bet ya twenty quid she's Harkness's latest girl, eh?" Kerry proposed. Rose fought to keep her lips from stretching into a smile. If only they knew.

"Yer on," Jorn agreed. "Wakey wakey, Blondie!" he cried cheerfully. Rose groaned theatrically, cracking her eyes open. Then groaned not so theatrically as the light sent a bolt of agony through her head.

"Where 'm I?" Rose got out. She knew well enough where she was, but it wasn't time to show them that. "M' head…"

"Yer in the headquarters of the Time Agency, Blondie. We're gonna ask ya some questions, and yer gonna answer 'em, nice and easy. Let's start with an easy one. What's yer name?"

That was Jorn. "Rose," she ground out, clenching her teeth. "Where's Jack?" She figured that a clueless blonde would be asking where her friend was. Jorn stalked towards her. "You, you, I don't know, stunned him or something—" she broke off as Jorn smacked her face. Rose bit her lip, hard, tasting blood, but a whimper escaped.

"Ya don't get to ask the questions, Blondie, that's our job. Next question: why're ya here?" Kerry asked, moving threateningly towards her.

"Jack just wanted to visit home, that's all," Rose said piteously. "He's done nothin' wrong, and neither've I."

"Who is the Time Lord? The man ya were with. What does he call himself? Why was Harkness with 'im?" Kerry demanded. _As subtly as possible_ , Rose remembered the woman, Regina, saying, and she started to laugh. She couldn't help it. The charade wouldn't last much longer, anyway. Rose bestowed her signature tongue-in-teeth grin on her two captors.

"He didn't unlock Jack's memories, since that's what you're worried about." The two men glanced at each other, then gaped at her. She laughed harder at the identical looks of utter shock on their faces. "'M not stupid, ya know, just 'cause I'm blonde and a woman. The Time Lord I was with? That's the Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, an' I'm his best friend." Rose paused a moment to let that bit of information sink in. "Ya know that little black thing you threw on the table? That's a communicator, and he's heard everything ya said. Doctor?" _Let me be right, please let me be right_ , Rose pleaded with the universe.

"Fantastic!" She heard from the phone, and her face broke out into a grin. "Rose?"

"Yeah, Doctor?" she called out, her smile widening.

"I'm coming to get you." The call cut off. Rose narrowed her eyes at Jorn and Kerry.

"I'd run if I were you," she said, smirking. A dark-haired woman sprinted into the room.

"Jorn, Kerry, get the bloody hell out of here _now._ " Rose recognized her voice as belonging to Regina, the woman in charge of the two men. She began to laugh as the three Time Agents bolted. A wheezing, groaning noise filled Interrogation Room One.

Rose Tyler closed her eyes as the most beautiful sound in the universe echoed around her. The Doctor was here. The Doctor was here, and she was safe.


	4. Chapter 4: Rescue

Chapter 4: Rescue

The instant the TARDIS was fully materialized, the Doctor came rushing out. "Rose," he whispered hoarsely, "what have they done to you?"

"Doctor," Rose said with a soft smile. He knelt down beside her and gently cupped her cheek with one hand. Her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into his touch. Taking a deep breath, the Doctor pulled out his sonic and undid the handcuffs, then ran it over Rose's body, scanning her.

The Doctor muttered something in the musical, lilting language that was his native tongue. Rose guessed, from the look on his face, that it was a curse. The Time Lord was angry. "Interrogation Room Two," she said, hoping to distract him from his scans. "That's where Jack is. There's this woman, Regina, who seems to be in charge, but she mentioned something about a Commander? I dunno; Jack'll probably be able to tell you more."

"How did you find that out?" the Doctor asked curiously, slipping his arms around the blonde and pulling her close to him.

"Pretended t' be unconscious," she said with a tongue-touched grin. "They never thought I was anything other than Jack's… 'latest conquest.'" The Doctor chuckled.

"Their mistake," he said with a small smile, that soft tilt of his lips that was so different from the manic grin he wore to hide his pain. This was his true smile. "C'mon, let's get you to the medbay. I swear, you are the most jeopardy-friendly human I've ever met."

"No," Rose told him as he got to his feet, scooping her up in his arms. The Doctor frowned. "'M gonna come with you. You need me to help you find Jack."

"Rose…" the Doctor started, but Rose put a finger on his lips, startling herself as much as she did him.

"'M comin' with you, Doctor."

OoOoO

Jack sighed and stared around the room. It had been several minutes since Regina had fled, and there were no signs of any other Time Agents in the vicinity. He could only hope that the Doctor would come soon, before Regina sent for the Commander. As if the thought was a summons, he heard a familiar whirring sound before the door clicked open.

"Hey, Doc," Jack greeted. His eyes fell on the girl the Time Lord was half-carrying, and a sudden rush of anger slammed through him. "Who did this to you, Rose?"

The blonde looked absolutely terrible. Her nose was smashed, and dried crimson blood covered half her face. The other half was filled with livid purple and black bruising. One arm was clutched against her side, and it looked as though every breath hurt. The worst, however, was the outline that stood in sharp relief on her cheek and over her broken nose: the shape of an energy gun, the weapon Jack had been stunned with.

"You look like hell," he told her seriously. Rose frowned.

"Thanks," she said drily. "You sure know how to charm a woman."

He gave her a bright, Captain Jack Harkness grin. "One of my _many_ specialties," he said with a wink. Rose laughed and though the Doctor rolled his eyes, there was a fondness in the gesture. "Right. Let's go. I think we have an appointment with the Commander."

OoOoO

As the three time travelers walked—or rather, Jack and the Doctor walked, and Rose half walked, half was carried by said Doctor—down the hallway, Rose and Jack told the Doctor what they knew.

"I overheard this woman, Regina, talkin' about why they wanted Jack," Rose said. "She had two reasons. The first was somethin' about bein' afraid that the Doctor had fixed his memories; since you're telepathic, apparently you can do that. The second was, well…" Rose swallowed. "Bad Wolf," she said in a quiet voice. "She said tha' the words are scattered through time and space, an' that all they knew was Jack's involved."

Jack nodded, confirming this. "Regina asked me several questions. She wanted to know if I knew about this Bad Wolf thing. Apparently, it seems that the epicenter of the whole thing is in the year 200,100, on a satellite owned by the Bad Wolf Corporation."

"What did you tell her?" the Doctor asked.

"That I had no idea what it was, she shouldn't tell me about it because it was still in my personal future, and to tell everyone who made bets that Rose is not my girlfriend." Jack grinned at the Doctor. "Rule One: Hands Off the Blonde."

"Cheeky," the Doctor snorted.

Rose giggled, but her amusement faded rapidly. "I've seen Bad Wolf everywhere, Doctor. What does it mean?"

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't know. Bloody fantastic," he grumbled. Whatever else he would've said was cut off when Jack stopped.

"This is the Commander's office," he said, easing his sonic blaster from his holster. Jack'd been adamant about getting his gun back before they went to confront his superior officer. The Doctor nodded once, then pushed the door open. The Commander was a stocky man of medium height, with a thin, angled face and buzzed brown hair. He was not very frightening, until one looked in his eyes. The dark, flat, expressionless orbs made Rose shiver. Jack stepped to her left side and rested a hand on her shoulder lightly, while the Doctor tightened his hold. The Storm was brewing in his hard, icy blue eyes.

"Hello," the Commander drawled lazily. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"You kidnapped my friends," the Doctor said, his voice tight. _Friends_ , not companions. It sent a feeling of warmth through Rose; he was calling them his equals.

"Oh, did I? My apologies," the man said, his voice oozing with fake sympathy and regret. "Really, though, I can't just have rogue Agents running around without supervision. Think of the chaos that would cause! My perfectly run organization would be in shambles! Surely you understand, Mr.—" he paused, waiting for a name.

"Doctor."

"Well, Doctor, I'm certain you understand. You do seem to be a man of intelligence, after all," the Commander said, a smug grin on his face.

"Actually, I don't," the Doctor said bluntly. "You used a low-level energy pulse to stun Jack. Why did you not have Rose taken down in the same way?" Rose could feel the Doctor's tension. His muscles were tight and coiled, ready to spring.

"Rose? Oh, you mean Jack's little blonde whore?" the Commander asked tauntingly, smiling maliciously. Jack reached around Rose and physically restrained the angry Time Lord, who looked as though he was ready to commit murder with his bare hands. Rose sighed. They never seemed to know when to stop. How the Commander wasn't cowering from the rage in the Doctor's eyes, she didn't know.

"Well, you see, the charges on our energy guns are tricky things; we don't want to waste them. I'm afraid Blondie over there just isn't worth the use of—" the Commander's patronizing tone and mocking smile both dropped away as the Doctor moved. Faster than Rose had ever seen him move before, he shoved her into Jack's arms and strode forward, and suddenly the Commander was pinned to the back wall of his office, the Doctor's left hand at his throat and his right hand resting on the wall above the Time Agent's head.

"Rose is worth infinitely more to me than your stinking ape brain could _ever_ comprehend," the Doctor spat, his face inches away from the other man's. "If you ever speak about her again, I will make it so you wish you were never born."

"You're a Time Lord," the Commander got out. "Time Lords never interfere. You are a good man. You wouldn't break your own rules."

"I've always been a bit of a rebel, me," the Doctor said, his voice infused with steel, low and deadly. "The Oncoming Storm, the Destroyer of Worlds, the Bringer of Darkness, _the Killer of his Own Kind_ ; do those sound like the titles of a _good man_ to you?" the Doctor hissed. "Good men don't _need_ rules, Commander. Now is _not_ the time to find out why I have so many."

His voice dropped even lower, so much so that Rose had to strain to hear him. "You are going to find out why it is a bad idea to hurt the ones I love. I will burn this place to the ground. I'm the last of the Time Lords, I destroyed my own planet, I've done worse things than you can ever imagine. I can guarantee you I will not blink at wiping your pitiful little Agency out of the universe. There is no power here that can stop me. Now think very, very carefully on what you say to me."

"Doctor," Rose said softly. "Stop this. You're better than this. Let him go."

The Doctor froze at her voice. It pierced through the red haze of utter fury that was clouding his vision and his mind. He saw his hand on the human's neck, heard every word he had spoken echo through his head, and he felt sick. The Time Lord slowly stepped back, releasing the Commander, and turned away. Rose reached out to him.

"You're alright, it's ok," she whispered soothingly. "Let's talk about it when we get back to the TARDIS, ok?" The Doctor was mute.

"You're a corrupt bastard, Commander," Jack said suddenly. "You stole two years of my life, stalked me through Time, and then, when you became afraid I was getting my memories back, you had me incarcerated. Go to hell." With that, he pulled the trigger on his sonic blaster and the Commander fell to the floor, thoroughly dead. Rose stared at him in shock that softened to a sad understanding. "Let's go," Jack muttered.

The three time travelers trudged back to the TARDIS in total silence, each too involved with their own thoughts to speak to the others.

 **Do you want to see an epilogue? The adventure is technically over, but there are a couple conversations to be had that I can make into an epilogue for you.**


End file.
